Maxwell's eyes abruptly shot open as a loud banging echoed through his modest sized room. His ears twitched in displeasure, as he rolled over in an attempt to block out the intruding sound. It seemed to have worked, as he could no longer hear the knocking of doors.
However, much to his chagrin, he was unable to fall back asleep, no matter which way he twisted and turned in his sheets. Loud noises were quite the annoyance. Groaning, he pushed himself up from the fluffy bed and jumped off it, getting some blood running in his systems. Stiff morning legs were not fun things to deal with.
"Man, now that was the sleep." Maxwell let out a long-satisfying yawn. Considering the fact that ever since he had entered this world, he was either sleeping on grass n' dirt, rocks or somelamia's couch, a nice, cool, fluffy bed was a nice change of pace. His body agreed with this sentiment, as he felt more of a spring in his step then he usually did.
Moving over to the dresser, he quickly changed into his laid out clothes, taking note of their wrinkled appearance. Such a thing was bound to happen, with no washing machines and all. There was also a lingering scent emitting from them, one Maxwell couldn't quite recognize. Maybe it's high time I start washing these clothes.
A mental image of one manually washing their clothes, suddenly ran through his thoughts. Shuddering, Maxwell scrapped the idea from his mindbank. He wasn't desperate enough to go down that route.
Not yet anyway.
At this moment, his stomach decided to growl, breaking the still yet, unusual silence that had settled over the room. "Man oh man, looks like the ol' stomacero has spoken. Time for dining." His thinking complete, the outsider walked up to the wall and rung the service bell.
The best thing about having a VIP room was the fact that you didn't need to leave it to go and ask for food. It like being back in a modern hotel, just without any actual modern appliances or objects. Now that I think about it, the only thing 'modern' about this place, is that god-damn bell! Frustrated by this realization, he slammed a fist on the bed, causing the sheets to fly up in the air.
Not that it really mattered; the maids would clean this place after his departure, he reasoned. And if they didn't; what would be the point of getting a VIP room in the first place? To clean one's own mess? "No thanks," Maxwell voiced out, answering his own question.
It was at this point that someone had arrived, giving three brisk knocks at the door. Leaping across the room in a single bound, the outsider quickly opened up the door to be met with a maid. She had the generic white and black cleaning apron, with tiny, white frills attached to her cropped blond hair. "What is it that you request, mister?" She asked, slightly bowing while doing so.
Maxwell brought his hand in front of him, and began counting off the digits of his fingers. "Flapjacks, bacon, sausages n' some good ol' mornin' blueberry muffins! Also, bring me some OJ!" He ended with the snap of his fingers. An old fashioned breakfast buffet was the best way to start any morning. Especially when one has not seen these foods for several days.
"Noted," she replied. The maid then brought her hands together in a prayer-like fashion. A bright flash of light soon followed, and she laid her hand out, there appearing a platter filled with the food, pancakes and all. It appeared magic did take time to cast, much like the systems in the books he had read. Perhaps that merchant was just a special case.
Maxwell internally winced at the memory. Getting slammed against those barriers didn't do shit to help his current condition. But that was what food was for. "Send my appreciations to the manager," he said, taking the platter away from her hands.
He could barely keep himself from digging into the meal right there and then, with the scent of homemade cooking wafting into his nose. Placing the platter down, he quickly shooed the maid away, rudely pushing her out the door, with naught a word. There was no time to be wasted, foods were at the ready!
Turning back to the platter, he reached for the utensils closed his eyes and spoke out a small prayer. "And just like he said on the 60th day, 'Eat, just as I have commanded you'." Maxwell brought a strip of bacon up to nose, allowing the smell to waver.
He basked in the scen- no, he savored it, practically tasting the live beast within his mouth, popping every single one of his taste-buds. If this was what a mere whiff could do, one had to wonder; What would a taste do?
And so he did, and despite his best efforts, the pieces was consumed in one swift movement, bacon strip and all. He wait for his taste buds to be intimate with the strip of bacon, sending the meat straight into his stomach.
He mimicked this behavior with the rest of his meal, not giving his breakfast anymore than a look, before sending it into the deep confines of his digestive system. Taking a moment to lick the remaining crumbs off his lips, Maxwell took the OJ and gulped it down, effectively wiping out the taste of his recently eaten breakfast.
"Ahh, now that is how we do it in America. Eat fast and without worry…" the outsider lamented, staring at the empty platter with slight disappointment in mind. To his credit, he had tried to appreciate the food and eat it one piece at a time. But alas, it was quite unfortunate that his buffet eating habits hadn't lessoned in the slightest.
Then again, that was some good food. Who could blame me for just… ravishing the dish?
Silence reigned until Maxwell decided to open the window, wooden stick in hand. Dealing with that maid -with the way he pushed her out and all- did not happen to be high up on his morning checklist. He'd leave that to the people who actually worked here. An establishment of this status was sure to have some other rich folk for the maid to be distracted by.
Wiping these thoughts from mind, he leaped out the window. Using various groves and ledges along the building's side, Maxwell scaled down the side of the building, landing on the pile of wooden crates below. He then ran forward, taking into the back alleyways, heading towards the town outskirts.
The outsider stood on the fringes of the town. This was not due to the usual spaces of boredom, rather it was thanks to a particular piece of parchment. The paper itself was not outstanding in any means, having a rather generic brown thin outlay. Most likely backed up by several layers of sheeting of some kind.
"Hahaha! That damn guard sure has a lot of extra time in his hands!" He let out with a shill of laughter, bringing his hands to his chest in an effort to stifle them. It was a laughter of sour amusement, unlike the sarcastic one he usually lets out. It was more akin to self-deprecating humor. "This is exactly what I needed! Man, and so quick too! Hahahaha!"
The piece of parchment paper Maxwell was clutching contained information on a bounty. But not just any bounty, one for his head specifically! Apparently, hitting that guard in the head only made him mad at him. It was a shame that this guard couldn't be bothered to stand up for himself.
And such a low price too… Is this really how much I'm worth? The capture award read thrity gold pieces. While back on his world, this would've been worth a fortune, based on the fact that people seemed to base their entire economy on gold, a gold count of this much most likely amounted to just 200 bucks.
In more modern and accurate terms, pocket money.
Maxwell teared the parchment into multiple small pieces, allowing for the wind to easily carry them out of his hands and towards unknown lands. There was no need for him to hold such a worthless paper anyway. It wasn't like he could turn himself in for money, that would probably end up with him dead or better yet in prison, without the money. Now that would've undermined the entire point of the bounty.
The outsider outstretched a palm towards the sun, closing it into a fist that blocked the celestial object from his line of sight. Unclosing his fist, he lowered it and let his finger out, allowing it to point in the direction known as-
"Nort- no… East? Or maybe it's West?" Maxwell's day to day life with working on papers tended to render the need for knowing the four cardinal directions to practically zero. And on the rare times that he happened to go camping, he had the ever so useful Compass app on his phone. "Meh, I guess the specifics doesn't really matter. I got the Sun as my guide after all." To hell with those dang no good gadget technology!
And so he walked off in the direction of the sun, throwing the wooden stick behind him, the stick driving itself into the Iliasburg walls. No need for him to keep his hands on such an unwieldy object after all. It also appeared to be rotting from juices of the dead. It wouldn't do well to have his weapon shatter in battle. And that was where his abilities came in, when the weapons were useless.
Going hand-to-hand in combat with a large multi-tentacle creature was just like having a large post on his back reading, 'Please rape and kill me'- as per the common theme this world seemed to have. An admittedly strange theme, but nonetheless, that was what he would have to deal with. For now anyway.
The mountain grew bigger and bigger in size. Maxwell could now see the telltale ridges of additional mountain peaks from behind. Or just really tall ash trees. The ground below him showed an absence of vegetation, dirt clouding up to his legs below him. Much was to be expected, with the mountainous shadow blocking out the sun above.
Maxwell grinned, feeling as satisfied as ever. His great decision making skills had worked their magic once more, and had now led him to a new place for great grandeur.
A cave. From outside, it appeared to be your normal everyday cave; dark, cool and in a nicely pocketed space. A quick toss of a rock smashed these expectations, the sounds echoing many times before fading from his hearing range.
The cave's outward appearance clearly betrayed its true size. "Such a big cave has to have massive exploration potential!" The outsider smashed a fist into an open palm, his sideways grin now bearing a few canines. He bent back, cracking and stretching the muscles in his back.
The moment he did so however, a humanoid figure flew out of the darkness of the cave. Maxwell's body reacted before he did, ducking under the figure, hopping off to the side. The figure was (unknowingly to Maxwell) a Goblin Girl. The little that she had were leather belted armor and an oversized hammer.
A tremor ran through the Earth from the impact of her hammer, the trees in the area slightly rustling in response. "Hey, black guy! Give me all your money and loot and I will not have to beat the snooze out of you!"
Dismissing the comment about his skin color, Maxwell replied, "Ey kid, aren't you a little too young to be playing victims and robbers in the hood?" He moved into a neutral standing stance.
"Fo- For that I'll smash ya skull in!" She reached down, picked up a handful of sand and threw it at his face.. "But first, eat this! All Seeing Sand-Storm!"
"But weren't you already going to do tha- Ah! What the hell did you do, kid?! Ugh, I got sand all over my eyes. In my mouth too!" Taken by surprise, the outsider frantically wiped sand off his mouth and spit it out of mouth. Unable to see his surroundings, he stumbled over an exposed root. "Also, giving attacks names doesn't make them stronger!"
"Aha! That was just a diversion! Now feel the might of the earth! Crushing Earth Goblin!" Yelling out the name of her attack, the Goblin Girl swung her hammer down at Maxwell. However the weight of her own weapon appeared to be too much for her, and her hammer teetered off to the side, creating an impressively sized dent in the ground.
What kind of idiot chooses a weapon that weighs more than them? Not that I'm complaining… The outsider took advantage of the opening, circling around and striking her in the head with the palm of his hand.
"Ow!" The Goblin Girl hefted up her hammer and took a swing at Maxwell in retaliation, though it was still obvious that she was still having trouble controlling the hammer.
Maxwell effortlessly sidestepped the attack and stuck out his leg, causing the bandit to trip over it and sprawl out all over the ground. Her hammer went flying from her grip, landing a few feet away in the opposite direction.
Seeing this, the Goblin Girl tried to get up and rush after her hammer, but Maxwell quickly put a stop to that action, shoving the bandit back unto her bum with a heavy push. "Are you done now?" He asked with a mocking sneer.
"...Haugh, huuh." Swinging around the hammer had tired out the Goblin Girl as she heavily panted to regain her breath. "N- No, I… am not. For I wield the might of the Eart-"
"What is going on here?"
The outsider diverted his attention to the bush where the voice seemed to have came from. Backup huh? Well, I'll show them the way back up to heaven. But emerging from the bush was not a monster, but a familiar face.
"Well, it appears that fate has once more turned her filthy hands, eh Oswell?"
"Hey, wait I saw you back Iliasburg! You're uhh… Maxwell!"
The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds before Luka gave a small cough. He walked forward, letting his hand rest on his sheath for easy access to his weapon. "Is that one of the four bandits standing over there?" He asked, staring at the Goblin Girl who was holding her hammer in her hands once more.
Maxwell followed Luka's gaze. "What do you mean by 'Four bandi-?! Hey, where do you think you're going, mate?! Come back, I got fresh questions for you!" He yelled out, agitated. His adversary blew a fat raspberry at him, sprinting back into the cave where she emerged from.
Luka turned to Maxwell and said, "The four bandits have been harassing the villagers for the past month. So I have been asked to deal with them, as a Hero should, of course." He then withdrew his sword and aimed its point at the cave. "And according to what they have told me, their hideout should be in that cave."
Rolling his eyes, Maxwell responded bitterly, "No shit, sherlock. Bet you felt like a real detective, huh? Inspector Oswell." It always annoyed him to hear people tell him information that was either, easy to figure out or information he already knew. Such things where a complete waste of time to him.
If Luka was bothered or annoyed by these statements he didn't show it, instead walking towards the cave the Goblin Girl had just ran into. He withdrew his sword from its sheath.
Maxwell took note of the sword's unique appearance. It definitely did not suit Luka, its grotesque appearance better suit to be wielded by a villainous individual. The sword seemed to be made out of miniature figurines, as he could see could see winged figures making up the exterior of the sword. He subtly flinched as he heard an eerie grown come from its base.
How the hell did this kid get his hands on such a cursed lookin' weapon? The outsider pondered as he followed after Luka into the cave. He didn't see, or hear artifacts of any kind lying around in this region. If he had, then he wouldn't be playing cave exploring, but treasure excavation instead.
The cave was quite the impressive site, with many indents in the ceiling reaching to a length of at least three stories tall and thirty feet wide. Rows of stalactites and stalagmites, most of them both taller and possibly thousands of years old than him, lined the ceiling while a smaller amount littered the ground before him. Lighting seemed to be provided from above, a soft orange hue infinitely reflecting off the walls.
"So what's on the meal plan for today?" Maxwell asked the purple-haired shorta. He took notice of the compuzzled expression on Luka's face and rephased his question. "I mean, what are we going to do after we beat up the youngins?"
Luka frowned, seemingly perplexed with the way the question was asked. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he responded, "I want to take them to Illiasburg and make them apologize for their crimes in front of the villagers."
"But what if the NPCs don't want to settle with an apology How about if they want to pull out Guillotines? What would you do then?" Maxwell replied, poking holes in Luka's logic.
"T-They wouldn't kill a child, even if they are monster girls!" He replied, sounding unsure about his own viewpoint. His grip on his sword grew tighter.
"And if they do?"
"Then I'll stop them," Luka answered, his voice overflowing with resolve. The lights in the cavern rebounded off him in just the right way, showcasing a great, yet still developing hero in the works. "But we should focus on getting the bandits first, then dealing with the villagers."
Maxwell chuckled. "I for one, support doing things in the opposite mann-"
He and Luka both froze in place upon seeing a Lamia slither out from behind one of the rocks. She had long purple hair, tied back in a ponytail and seemed to be equal in terms of height with Luka, give or take a few inches. Her wardrobe didn't appear to be on the top of her concerns, only wearing a light grey tunic that fell well below her waste.
"Who are you?" Luka asked, moving his sword to in front of him.
The lamia balked at the lack of recognition. Quickly straightening out her appearance she shouted, "I am the Lamia bandit of Water of the Four Bandits! I have saw how you defeated my weaker partner, so I will now challenge you two. Behold the might of my magnificent tail!"
Maxwell walked back and leaned against a protruding rock structure. "You take care of this, Oswell. I happen to be quite the pacifist." Despite the actions he took, the outsider did truly wish to play with the duo. But he knew that Luka had to gain experience and him beating up kids wouldn't help the shorta grow stronger in his 'quest for peace'. Plus, his fingers needed a good cracking.
"Hey! Aren't you the one who beat up my friend?" The lamia yelled out, staring at Maxwell.
In response, the outsider rose his hands up defensively. "Woah woah, your friend must have gotten the wrong guy. I abhor violence," he replied with a grin on his face.
Luka took her distraction as a opportunity to strike, lunging forward to stab the Lamia in the stomach.
"Ow!" She clutched her gut. "That wasn't fair, I was talking to that man over there!"
"Yeah, come on Luka. I thought such underhanded tricks were below you," Maxwell commented, cracking each individual knuckle on his fingers. They had gone stiff from non-frequent use, seeing as dodging, punching and striking does not require the use of opposable digits.
"Got you now!" The lamia outstretched her tail, enveloping Luka within its coils. His sword fell to the ground with a clatter. "Now you will learn why I am to be feared!"
A look of distress flashed across the shorta's face for half a second before shifting into one of indifference. With barely any effort, he pulled himself out her grip, her coils sliding off him easily. He picked up the Lamia, holding her at eye-level.
This continued for a few seconds until a tear formed in the Lamia's eyes. "Wh- Why couldn't I defeat you?"
Taken aback by the sudden change in attitude, Luka placed her down, idly scratching his head. "Well, I'm not sure I could answer that question..."
"It's cause you didn't utilize your powers over water, [Lamia bandit of water]. Honestly, I'm beginning to think this is all one fat big sham," Maxwell rationalized.
The bandit looked from Maxwell to Luka. "Bu... But- I won't forgive you two for this!" The lamia wailed, tears dropping from her eyes as she slithered further into the caves.
The outsider slowly clapped as he followed after the already walking shorta. "Luka, Luka, Luka. I thought heroes weren't supposed to bully the weak." He glanced at the trail of tears the Lamia left behind her. "But apparently, I was wrong."
The hero in question ignored the man's thoughts, instead soldiering forward with increased resolve.
It wasn't long before the duo ran into a short vampire girl wearing a worn out cape and some bottoms. "You must have been pretty strong to beat the Earth Goblin and the Water Lamia-"
"Despite their lack of any elemental skills," Maxwell interjected.
She continued without dropping a beat, "-But I won't be such an easy foe!" Without giving Luka anytime to prep himself, the Vampire Girl dispersed into a hundreds of bats that began swarming him. Maxwell's eyes were glued on the multitude of bats. Seeing a little girl suddenly turn into a bunch of flying bats was something usually seen in a badly produced Hollywood movie.
Luka swung his sword haphazardly, the bats he hit dissipating into small black particles. However this didn't even make a dent in their numbers, as he was forced to lean back and cover his face to defend himself.
While he was blindly swatting at the bats, they clumped together on his back and the Vampire Girl reformed, clinging onto his back. "Ah ha, I got you now!"
Luka let out a surprised cry. "Gah! Get off me!" He tussled with the Vampire Girl for a few moments, before managing to get a grip on her and taking her off him. She struggled in his grip.
"Hey! What are you doing?" She glared at him and began sniffling. She wiped tears away from the corners of her eyes "Why are you being so mean?"
The hero turned his head and placed her down, mumbling an apology. "Uh… I'm sorry?"
"No, I won't forgive you for that!" She began, staring dead set into Luka's eyes. "Now that it has come to this! Let me show you my true power, as Vampire Of the Wind! Just look into my eyes while I gather my magic power!"
Though it would be foolish in any other situation, Luka closed his eyes. Maxwell seeing the Vampire Girl's eyes slowly illuminate, stared into the bridge of her nose instead. A bright flash of red light lit up the cave for half a second. When all was done, the duo looked back at the Vampire Girl.
"Wh- Why did you look away from me?" Vampire Girl blubbered out, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "Waah! Why are you so mean to me?"
"So…. Sorry?"
"Waaah!" She was devastated, losing the will to fight in her anguish.
Luka ignored her cries of defeat and strolled up to her with a look of confusion. "By the way… You said [Of the Wind], but you didn't use any wind attacks…?"
"I… can't. We're only imitating the Heavenly Knights." After saying that, she ran deeper into the cave, wailing while doing so.
"Well, so that was what was going on," Luka muttered.
Still standing behind the shorta, Maxwell rolled his eyes in annoyance. One day, Luka's stupidity will end up in an early grave or at the very least, a brutal 'training' session, courtesy of him. "Yep, we beat up the 3rd runt… so who's next?"
"It should be the Dragon Girl," Luka replied, clenching his sword in anticipation. "I'll be a hero fighting the mighty dragon, just like in the stories I used to read."
Maxwell slightly rose his left eyebrow. Wasn't Luka practically fighting kids, ones that were shorter than him? He reasoned that whether or not it went against the beliefs of an actual hero, it wouldn't hurt to give Luka a boost in the self-esteem department.
A Dragon Pup appeared at the end of the cave, as they turned a corner. "The last of the four, this [Dragon of Fire of the Four Bandits] shall be your opponent! After all, since you came so far, you must be a true hero!" She only had on cloth, a cloth bra and a loincloth covering all the important bits.
Luka brandished his sword in anticipation. "Bad little thieves like you must be punished!" His expression was filled with resolve.
"Gao!" Dragon Pup attacked first, spewing out a torrent of blazing hot flames. Luka leaped to the side, avoiding the attack. However, dodging the attack did not negate the heated air that nearly seared his skin.
"Yowch!" Luka let out involuntarily, hissing due to the heat. He swung his sword downward, hitting the Dragon Pup on the head. His sword rebounded of her head, his arm shaking slightly while doing so. He hadn't made so much of a scratch on the Dragon Pup.
Despite his attack having no damage, the Pup winced back in pain, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Ow, that hurt!" In retaliation, she jumped unto him and bit at his arm, trying to take a chunk of it off.
"D-Damn, get off me!" Luka twisted his arm around the bandit, and slashed at her unexposed back. With a yelp of pain, she dropped of the kid, hitting the ground with a thud.
Seizing the moment of her disorientedness, Luka leaped high into the air rising his sword well above his head. He then swung, aiming for the Dragon Pup's neck. "Demon Decapitation!" Power rose through his sword as he brought it down.
"So, you're using that skill again," Maxwell idly commented. He thought back to the first time he saw Luka using the skill, when the Grandraia was rampaging through the town. Back then, Luka could barely hold his sword in the correct position to swing it. Now, the hero was able to attack with more speed and accuracy than before. The outsider wondered why Luka's intelligence hadn't grown at all, as that should be his main concern.
Simultaneous to Luka's swing, the Dragon Pup brought up her sharp nail. Their attacks connected, and the Dragon Pup was sent flying to the ground. "I… won?" Luka placed his sword back into its sheath, as she laid face down on the ground.
Maxwell felt a sudden sense of unease. Without explanation, he pivoted himself towards the closed space of the cave, where all the rock converged to form a natural barrier. It was the same sense of feeling one got when encountering a final boss.
"Finally, it looks like the battle between the fake Hero and the tiny ragon is over," Alice appears in front of the duo, giving a rude remark about Luka's behavior. She has a tumble of wriggling mass in her arms.
But then again, she actually isn't wrong… Maxwell thought.
"Oh, that's…" Luka trails off, his tiny brain trying to comprehend the situation.
Alice opens her arms, allowing the 'wrigglers' to drop next to the Dragon Pup. "These are all the bandits, I found lying around. You can do whatever you want to do with them. Sell them, violate them, seal them or eat them. I don't care. You were the one who wanted to root them out. " At those spoken words, all four bandits begin crying again.
Maxwell, unable to keep his amusement contained, let out a series of high-pitched giggles. He knew that this wasn't the time or the place to laugh, but just couldn't help it. Gathering strange looks from both the monsters and human, he excused himself to the far wall. "Just… look at their faces when they fell!" Giving himself some time to let out his laughter, he made his back to the group, who seemed to have resolved their issues.
"We are going back to Iliasburg to make them apologize for what they have done. And I'm sure they'll be fine. That Amira lamia lives in the middle of town, so a bunch of monster kids apologizing should do no harm," Luka informed him, still giving a confused expression.
"Alrighty, matey. Lead the way."
And with that Alice, Maxwell, Luka and the Four bandits made their way back to Iliasburg.
